Shoe material



Sept. 1, 1936. I J. A MUiR 2,052,579

SHOE MATERIAL Filed July 15, 1932 Patented Sept. l, 1936 ME 1 STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE MATERIAL Application July '15, 1932, Serial No. 622,725

' 7 Claims.

My invention relates to shoe material, and has for its primary object to provide a composition which may be used as a filler in shoe manufacture, or which can be incorporated with a suitable backing and employed as a flexible stiffener for box toes, counters, and other parts of the shoe.

An object of the invention is to provide a material which will be possessed of flexibility, resiliency and compressibility, combined with required tensile strength and moisture absorbing qualities.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide amaterial which will poss ss requisite density and at the same time be much lighter than comparable products which are adapted for similar uses.

Heretofore, various materials used as compositions in shoe manufacture have all required complicated methods of production and application necessitating considerable expense. With the present invention, however, the material may be cheaply made and, as stated, will have all of the desired characteristics of shoe material to a far more acceptable degree.

In carrying out the invention, I utilize as one ingredient of my composition a material known as cotton seed oil pitch. Such material comes in various grades and I prefer a medium grade having a ring and ball softening point which is over 100 F., and preferably above 180 F.

The other ingredient of my composition is comminuted cork and I prefer to use cork particles of a size known as number 4.

It will be understood that various grades of cotton seed oil pitch, as well as various sizes of powdered or granulated cork may be used within the spirit of this invention.

In preparing the mixture an ordinary rubber mill is utilized and the pitch is applied to the rolls thereof, whence it becomes plastic, due to independent heating of the rolls, or the heat produced by the friction developed, or simply by the working of the pitch. When the pitch becomes sufliciently plastic, the granulated cork is added and thoroughly mixed with the pitch binder. At

the completion of the mixing operation, when the mixture has the desired consistency, the composition is applied to rolls of a calender machine, through which is also fed a strip of backing material and in this manner, the composition is associated with the backing, producing a laminated structure comprising a layer of the backing and a layer of the composition adhesively, united thereto. The thickness of the composition layer may be varied dependent upon the use for which it is intended.

A preferred mixture comprises fifty per cent by volume of cotton seed oil pitch and fifty per cent by volume of granulated cork, although these 5 percentages may be departed from, as desired.

Since my improved binder has the property of setting at normal temperatures, the laminated sheet so calendered is not required to be treated by any curing process, nor is the use of driers em- 10 ployed.

After the sheet has been formed, it may, if desired, be passed through a suitable bath and permeated with a plasticizer solution so as to impart to the material a greater degree of plasticity l5 and flexibility.

The bath may comprise any suitable materials and I prefer to use a mixture composed of sixty per cent water, thirty per cent of a suitable vegetable gum such as gum arabic, and ten per cent of glycerine.

The resultant product comprises a laminated sheet having a backing and a layer of my improved composition, the whole permeated with the plasticizer solution. This sheetpossesses remarkable qualities of flexibility and resiliency, is hydroscopic, and when used as a stifiener for box toes, counters, and other parts of the shoe forms a highly acceptable article.

' It is dense, but at the same time light, and will 30 readily support an adhesive whereby it may be aflixed to the shoe.

The laminated fabric may have applied, to one or both surfaces thereof, a suitable pressure sensitive or heat sensitive adhesive whereby it may be supplied in sheet form to shoe factories, who will stamp out the necessary box toe or counter blanks and apply the same in the usual manner.

If desired, the material may be blanked out and skived or formed into counter and box toe blanks, and in this manner, supplied to the trade, with or without an adhesive coating.

The backing above referred to may be a cloth backing or a paper backing and, in fact, any usual material which has been found acceptable.

Instead of immersing the laminated sheet material in the coating bath, I may spread or spray the coating solution upon the surface of the composition and also upon the surface of the backing and it will be understood that this coating solution will not only impart plastic and flexible qualities to the composite material, but also would enable a suitable adhesive of a pressure sensitive or heat sensitive character to be applied, as a strata or layer. t

While I have described the use of a laminated sheet comprising a backing and a layer of cotton seed oil pitch and granulated cork composition, it will be understood that for certain purposes the backing will not be desired.

Thus my composition may be employed as a bottom or center shoe filler and for this purpose I have found the invention highly efliclent.

To produce the material for a filler, a mixture of the pitch binder and granulated cork is poured into a mould, formed into blocks and allowed to cool.

Thereupon, the blocks are sliced to produce sheets of the desired thickness and these sheets may then be permeated in a bath such as above described.

The material when used as a filler has been found to be self-sealing and prevent any fcreeping which has heretofore been experienced with the use of bottom fillers comprising plastic cork. The fillers may be stamped out of the sheets in any desred shape and skived or formed as: required. An important feature of the composition is that it will retain substantially its contour and will not flow, so that the fillers may be prepared by stamping from the sheets and shipped as preformed articles.

A preferable form of composition will be one in which the pitch predominates, as for example I may use 53% of pitch and 47% of cork by volume. The step of permeating with a suitable plasticizer solution is not essential, but is desirable in many cases.

My improved composition as heretofore stated, is moisture absorbent, possesses a flexibility and resilience meeting all the requirements of shoe material, and is furthermore much stronger than products in conventional use, its tensile strength,

the sheet unsatisfactory, because of itsbrittleness and tendency to crack. The filler of this invention is resilient and flexible and at the same time possesses an elastic factor making it much more acceptable than conventional products. By eliminating the calendering step, I am enabled to have a large volume of cork present without fear of producing a brittle product, at the same time obtaining strength, reilience and elasticity.

The product of the present invention is nontacky, and, as stated, may be used with or without a backing. In referring to a backing, the usual fabric may be employed, or a suitable paper layer may be utilized. v

The backing is preferably employed in the case of box toes and counters, but is usually not employed with shoe fillers.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows my invention employed as a bottom filler, V

Figure 2 shows a bottom filler blank,

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the invention applied as a counter, and

Figure 5 shows the invention in the form of .a

- box toe.

What I claim is:

1. A new and improved method of forming a shoe material composition which consists in rendering cotton seed oil pitch plastic, mixing granulated cork with the plastic pitch, calendering the mixture, and coating the sheet with a plasticizer.

2. A new and improved method of forming a shoe material composition which consists in rendering cotton seed oil pitch plastic, mixing granulated cork with the plastic pitch, calendering the mixture, applying a backing strip of fabric to the mixture, allowing the laminated sheet thus formed to set, and coating the sheet with a plasticizer.

3. A new and improved method of forming a shoe material composition which consists in mixing substantially 47% by volume of comminuted cork with substantially 53% by volume of cotton seed oil pitch, calendering the mixture, applying a backing strip of fabric to the mixture, allowing the laminated sheet thus formed to set and coating the sheet with a plasticizer composed of substantially water, 30% vegetable gum, and 10% glycerine.

, 4. A comminuted cork stifiener element wherein the comminuted cork is held by a binder consisting of cotton seed oil pitch.

5. A comminuted cork stiifener element wherein the comminuted cork is held by a binder consisting of cotton seed oil pitch modified by a softening agent.

6. A comminuted cork stiffener element wherein the comminuted cork is held by a binder consisting of cotton seed oil pitch, said element having a flexible backing united thereto.

'1. Acomminuted cork flller element,wherein the comminuted cork is held by a binder consisting of cotton seed oil pitch.

JAMES A. MUIR. 

